“Welcome back, brother Carl,” Fleeting Time greeted. “That was a really quick run, as expected of Skyborne Lions!” he praised genially.

Radiant Bulwark and Weaving Fate faltered, then smiled fumblingly, completely embarrassed and stumped for words. Luckily for them, Carl graciously came to the rescue.

“Oh, it was something else. I've had so much fun I almost died there. Had to visit the temple.” He laughed.

“Did you … seriously wash yourself in there?” the old cleric asked timidly. “I hear it's 10 gold …”

“Haha, not even I am that extravagant. Yet!”

“How … then … ?”

“A secret reward.” Carl winked. “Have to keep it under wraps for now. How are the little ones? Are they eager and ready to set out?”

Like on cue, the crowd of NPCs, numbering over sixty by now, livened up, their eyes sparkling with anticipation.

“I-ah … I tried to assess them a little bit, but they're not very talkative with me,” Fleeting Time disclosed abashedly. “Still, I compiled a list with what I've found, and recommended some team compositions. Sending it to you now.”

“Mhm. Alright, let's see. Listen up! Who's brave enough to go with me to the haunted battlefield?”

Suddenly, it was as if someone turned off the light and blew cold air. While the players present stared at Carl with shock, the natives paled and reeled back, then backed off slightly and huddled together, every one of them afraid to stand at the front of the group.

“Oh? Nobody?” Carl scanned the terrified faces. “Ah, well, what can I do.” He sighed deeply, then addressed the two Skyborne Lions. “I'll go learn Last Hurrah quickly, then set out. Could you keep my lobby alive with some trusted people so Uncle Time doesn't have to be bound to it? I'll be taking Toothy with me, and I'm sure he and his family would like to resume their adventures as well.”

“M-Master Lionheart?!”

“Hmm? What's up, Toothy?”

“I can't help you hunt ghosts …” the man pleaded desperately, tears in his eyes.

“Really? That's a shame.”

“I'm sorry, Master Lionheart!” the huntsman cried.

“It's okay, Toothy, relax. I was just joking.” Carl laughed gently. “I won't be taking you to any haunted places. I'll be right back, don't go anywhere.”

“Master Lionheart?” some mousy voice called as he was about to leave. It was a nervous female healer who stepped forward.

“What is it?”

“Can't we … perhaps … start with an easier expedition? See how … it goes?”

“Yes, like the haunted forest for example … or haunted caves at most …” a young practitioner of the arcane arts seconded meekly.

Carl was positively surprised. It was a total gamble, one he played on a whim. He merely wanted to see their reactions, to gauge them and try to predict what chances would he have after receiving his new title badge. He wasn't even sure of those, yet two NPCs already volunteered?

Radiant Bulwark, Weaving Fate and Fleeting Time, on the other hand, were thoroughly flabbergasted. So it was actually possible?! It didn't matter that the mentioned dungeons were pitiful rank 1 and 2 – of all the available henchmen, not even the top ones would budge. Meanwhile, the unexpected daredevils turned out to be poor, hopeless wannabes, who came out with their own initiative!

“Just the two of you? There's five spots on the team. Anyone else?”

While Carl looked around, another failing initiate emerged warily from the group, then a middle-aged cleric, but not a battle type, only a light support one.

“That's four. Is that all?”

“M-Mas-ter Lion-heart,” Theodore stammered through rattling teeth, all shaking, “I'll go … to the haun-ted fo-rest! With you!”

Carl smiled with content. There was no melee fighters in this group, but it was for the better.

“Very good.” He nodded. “But we won't be going there just yet. Maybe in the future, once you upgrade your gear and polish your skills a bit. For now we'll be conquering the gray wolves' den. You lot are up first, we're embarking in fifteen to twenty minutes.”

The three veteran gamers could not help but marvel at Carl's wit. They seriously needed to rethink their approach to Immortal Frontier. It was an experience like no other!

Carl now had another 50 gold, which he didn't even need to ask for. Armed with ample knowledge of its mirror skill, he breezed through the formulas of Last Hurrah. The similarities were so significant, that he only needed ten minutes to memorize the new motions, and succeeded in executing them after a couple attempts, astounding his colleagues yet again.

[Last Hurrah] (activable)

Empowering skill, grade 0 (peak), entry level.

Effects: x*(1+x/base_strength)/s mana upkeep for 0.03x points of strength, target: self, augments strength and improves acceleration, exhausts proportionally to the upkeep costs.

This was a whole different beast, because he would only need the extra strength for a fraction of a second. But – although there was no need to exert himself – he would still need to train it to a decent level before it became useful.

“Brother Lionheart, here, you should wear these against the dire wolves.” Weaving Fate passed Carl a simple wooden box. “Those are the replacements we prepared for the black wolves' den, as we're not done with collecting your intended equipment yet. You also shouldn't bother with inferior mana potions any more. The common ones cost only 50 silver, and good ones 2.5 gold. Honestly, I think it would be best if you drank one good potion each time. They last 80 seconds and will provide you 60 mana per second with your boosts, so you won't have to hold back, and if you end the fight sooner, you can just spend the remainder on leveling up your skills.”

The poor souls that farmed the gold their commander was so lavishly spending on someone who wasn't even their guild member would likely weep hearing those words. That was a ludicrously expensive way of gaining proficiencies!

In the crate Carl found a great quality leather armor set made of some really decent materials.

“That looks … solid. How much did it cost?”

“90 gold,” the elven enchantress divulged with a reserved smile.

“That much? Aren't these bracers almost as good as a rank 5 reward, then?”

“Almost, but not quite, as they lack magic. This is, however, the most durable stuff on the open market. Gravidons are evolved herbivores, and their hide is both thick and resilient. It's very hard to find any of their leather used for unenchanted items. Do you like it?”

“Indeed, thanks. I think with this I can safely solo the gray wolves' den.”

While being on the heavier side, the armor was quite flexible, save for the bracers, shin guards and helmet, which were hardened. Though it would slow Carl down, the protection it offered was definitely adequate.

“Do I want the helmet, though? … Naaah!”

Discarding the head piece to the questioning stares of his benefactors, the hero suited up, recovered the Black Fang and the bite sleeve, replenished his belts with potions and energy juices, and was ready to roll.

“One more thing. Is there any identification skills I can quickly learn, so I can train them on these locals while running?”

Carl was determined to make the most of his mental buff, and since he would have to go easy with the two gladiatorial skills, it was the perfect opportunity to supplement his arsenal with visual aids.

“Mhm, there's orbs of insight with many basic skills at the temple, and personal identification is among them. But the problem with identification skills is that once you successfully identify someone or something, you won't gain any more proficiency from them, so it's much more efficient to train those while walking through the city. As it is, I would advise you to pick up and train a vision enhancement first, like Eagle Eye. It will allow you to conveniently zoom in on distant objects. It's not as good as a monocular, but much faster to use.”

“Is Arcane Vision there, too?”

“Yes, but there's not much to see in regular dungeons, so again – no proficiency gains.”

“What about hearing enhancements, is there any?”

“Mhm, Hyperacusis.”

“Hyperacusis it is. Guys, we're moving out!”

Following which, Carl was accompanied by Weaving Fate to the temple once more, where he learned the medium quality grade 0 skill in mere 2 minutes, gave his gold away just in case, and eagerly rejoined his new wards in the familiar, pleasant forest, where he recited a Scroll of Threat and ate a high quality meal.

“Onward! Let's set some records!”

Soon, it was apparent that the effects of the Scrolls were reproducible – there was no unplanned encounters on their way to the center of the woods, where all the wolves rallied. On one hand, it was meant as a tall hurdle for full-realism players, but on the other – a golden opportunity for those capable of jumping over it!

“Toothy?”

“This one! Guys, hurry!”

“There's so many of them! Master Lionheart … !”

“Haha, don't worry about him. Come up and watch a Beast Slayer at work!”

Carl smiled involuntarily while downing a good mana potion. Theodore sure was adjusting quickly.

“Let's see how fast is Ripping Claw now with the Black Fang. 67.5 Mana per second … I can afford to test Last Hurrah as well.”

Since he had provisionally brought it up to beginner level, he could already add 6% to his strength with a mere upkeep of 20 mana per second. Not enough to make a drastic change, but sufficient to make him feel more confident.

“Let the slaughter commence!”

And the repurposed drake fang flew …

…

“Fate, I'm leaving you with selecting the most promising and most loyal mages from our entire guild. I'll deal with all weapons experts. I'm also permitting you to mention – if you must – that it's a secret exploit, but that you are not allowed to reveal it under any circumstances. I'll talk with old Leon and convince him we need to produce as many full-realism players before the tutorial ends as we can, no matter the cost. Needless to say, this information is beyond classified – ideally, the only people in the loop should be the two of us and anyone who manages to attain an honor.”

“Of course, boss. But how should I train them?”

“They'll spar with everyone else. I realize they're at a disadvantage when it comes to battle instincts – after all, that's why many hunters chose to be mages and rangers – but that's tough luck for them. We're only looking for strong characters, as skill is much easier to acquire.”

“Very well. Shouldn't we perhaps ask Lionheart to give them some pointers?”

“Heh, I think we don't even have to.”

…

“Oh boy … good mana potions are so formidable!”

Carl had so much mana regeneration he barely kept up with spending it. His dagger and bite sleeve danced non-stop, and it revealed the next weakest link – stamina. Instead of Last Hurrah, he ended up using Champion's Conviction a lot, because his avatar could barely move halfway through. It was a prolonged sprint, after all, where he tumbled, recovered, attacked blindly to cover for trip-ups, and was hyper-alert from the adrenaline rush.

But the carnage … was epic!

“Guys, come down! Whatever you manage to skin – is yours!”

…

“Chief … I think he's conquering the gray wolves' den for the NPCs!” a scout reported, still in disbelief himself. “Insanely fast, too!”

“So he's using the scrolls,” the fancy black-clad fencer stated matter-of-factly. “The Skyborne Lions are supplying him very generously. They must have joined hands to grind reputation.”

“Y-you don't suppose … ?”

“He's after the two mysterious portals, what else?” the esteemed leader of Blood Brothers concluded flatly, stroking his short beard.

“How are we going to stop him, then?”

Blood Oath grinned.

“He's too cheap to hire better NPCs. It'll be a piece of cake to make his henchmen offers they can't refuse. Let's see how deep are his pockets!”